Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our monthly look at the “Judge Dredd Megazine!” Let’s get right to it.
Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3
Credits: Mike Carroll (script) Anthony Williams (art) Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: All seems lost for the heroes of Mega City One. They’re facing off against the perfect predator and nothing they have can stop it.
This is the perfect time for an unexpected ally to step in and help Dredd save the day. It’s someone Dredd has already met, or will meet, or might have met but doesn’t remember.
Look, her name is Paradox Vess and she’s a character who can sort of see into the future. Time travel and precognition stories are a mess.
Since “Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3” introduces a character that has already appeared in previous Dredd stories (they give the prog number and everything) writer Mike Carrol has the difficult task of introducing new readers to this character while keeping readers who already know of her happy and engaged. Carroll does a good job on both counts, giving new readers insight into a character that is pretty interesting and quirky while the precognition mechanic allows him to do some weird clairvoyant stuff that keeps long time readers engaged. As stated above, time travel stories are weird but Carrol does a good job of dealing with the usual pitfalls and tropes of the sub genre. Plus they do wind up defeated the monster in a clever and unique way.
Artist Anthony Williams has his work cut out for him in “Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3” because while time travel doesn’t factor heavily into the story, it is very action heavy. Williams does a great job of showing where everyone is in relation to each other, and it is very easy to follow and understand.
“Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3” is a satisfying conclusion to the story and manages to pull off a story that involves bending time and taking out an unkillable monster in ways that are both satisfying and understandable. It’s filled with clever action, smart plotting, and weird sci-fi ideas that are hallmarks of Dredd stories.
Devil Waugh: Nightclubbing, Part 2
Ales Kot (script), Steven Austen (art), Matt Soffe (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: The narration of ‘Nightclubbing Part 2’ doesn’t jump out immediately as different from ‘Part 1,’ but it does become apparent it’s a new voice. It’s clear though from a few panels in that it’s the demon possessed dildo that’s doing all the play by play and it changes the tone of the story. The dildo kind of gives you an outsider’s view of things as Devlin and the wanna be serial killer start to throw down. Ales Kot makes this pretty serious situation as some pretty violence erupts in the club. Steve Austen populates the background scenes on the dance floor with more creative energy then he puts into the hero and villain of the piece. It’s not a bad thing because it emphasizes the diversity of the culture and the obvious open minds that inhabit it, but they do overshadow the more comparatively vanilla things in the foreground story.
As the fight with the mini-chainsaw-wielding fascist progresses and draws the bystanders in, it is easer to be more interested in the lives of the bartender and the other unnamed clubbers then in Devlin and the red, white, and blue wearing sociopath. If you are interested in fight choreography and seeing graphic violence this is not the strip for you. It’s clear by the end Ales Kot is more interested in showing the high level of party resilience in the room over what was assumed to be the a plot. Even the narration is more interested in the momentary connection made in the room. Questions like did Devlin lose an eye, even temporally, are irrelevant to the final dance number, and that is actually a good thing.
DeMarco, PI: A Picture Paints – Part Five
Laura Bailey (script), Rob Richardson (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Chris Egan: While the story is still being full propelled forward with all the cogs keeping the machine running, there is a sense of the pacing slowing down for both DeMarco and us. It is only the second chapter, but so much has been thrown around in terms of plot, villains, and McGuffins, that we are all have to get our bearings.
Continued belowSo much happens this month. DeMarco has a bounty put on her head; she goes undercover in a fun disguise, and is getting pulled into a whirlwind of a mystery. And yet it never feels overwhelming or overwritten. It continues to prove itself to be its own thing while taking the bare minimum from the greater “Judge Dredd” universe. The connectivity is the gentlest bit of hand holding as we fall down this rabbit hole of a job with the titular character.
The further use of wildly different color palettes to set not just the physical environment, but the mood, isn’t anything new, but it keeps the entire comic feeling fresh from page to page. DeMarco, P.I. continues to be one of a refreshing and easy strip to enjoy each month.
Tales from the Black Museum: Aesthete
Credits Liam Johnson (script), Cam Smith (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: Cam Smith’s art carries this “Tale from the Black Museum”. Smith’s art has that retro minimalist clean line work of Bruce Timm or Shane Glines but that figurework and framing is juxtaposed against these encroaching hashed lines, like this creeping sense of dread that will disrupt everything. This art style makes for just a plainly good set of pages that have at least one stand out image per page. Everything moves along at an agreeable pace.
Liam Johnson’s script and plotting doesn’t try to over complicate things or find a new dark twist. Cornelius Klein was a promising young artist until he lost his eyesight, but thanks to new medical trials and a set of cybernetic eyes he can see again. (The Dredd nerd in me is like, ok where does this fit in with the type of eyes that Judge Dredd received, but that is outside the bounds of this kind of strip.) This being a “Tale of the Black Museum ” there is a twist, he now has sight beyond sight, receiving visions of everyone else’s untimely ends.
Johnson and Smith work best pages 4-5 with this pair of pages transforming into a comedic montage of call and response deaths. From statistically improbable run-ins with rapid dogs to statistically probable run-ins with the rapid dogs of the Law. The comedy of this sequence is simple and well executed. Until finally he cannot take it anymore and Smith unleashes the gruesome image of Klein having plucked his own eyes out. This decision shows a lack of foresight resulting in the final ironic twist of the strip. It is not really that ironic, but it is a fitting final beat for the strip.
“Aesthete” isn’t overly complicated, it is a straightforward dark horror strip. It may not be that terrifying, but the themes and setup harken back to the Twilight Zone sort of setup. It’s just a well-executed strip.
Harrower Squad: Calhab County, Part Three
Credits: David Baillie (script), Steve Yeowell (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: Like a more lighthearted cousin to “Fall of Deadworld,” “Harrower Squad” is all about a journey through infected lands. But while “Deadworld” makes every action seem dire and life-threatening, Steve Yeowell’s art is more about showing the absurdity of war and the psychopathy on both sides of any conflict. Yeowell really makes a meal out of this issue’s violence, showing Forvus as a true maniac, laying waste to enemies with unnerving glee.
Unlike a lot of stories that focus on Judges and Mega-City One, David Baillie makes “Harrower Squad” not just a collection of hardened soldiers, but show dissension in the ranks, with different characters serving different goals and masters. It makes the Judges less homogenized and more interesting, but the downside of that is that, at times, due both to Yeowell and Blythe’s relatively clean, bright art, this doesn’t really feel like a story set in that world.
